A number of different physiologic states are either directly or tangentially related to the desire to consume food and thus attain a feeling of satiation. Obesity affects millions of Americans, and a substantial percentage of these people are morbidly obese, suffering such obesity-related problems as heart disease, vascular disease, and social isolation. An additional number of Americans suffer from various other eating disorders that may result in cachexia (i.e., a general physical wasting and malnutrition) or periods of obesity and/or cachexia. The etiology of obesity is largely unknown. The etiology of some eating disorders is psychological in many patients, but for other patients, is poorly understood.
Both obesity and its effective counterparts, anorexia and bulimia, are affected by both food intake and metabolic demand, including by exercise, basal metabolism and thermogenesis. These are in turn influenced by the combined effects of genetics and metabolic efficiency. Satisfactory treatments for orexic or appetite related conditions including obesity and anorexia remain elusive.
Patients suffering from morbid obesity and/or other eating disorders have very limited treatment options. For instance, some of these patients may undergo surgery to reduce the effective size of the stomach (“stomach stapling”) and to reduce the length of the nutrient-absorbing small intestine. Such highly invasive surgery is associated with both acute and chronic complications, including infection, digestive problems, and deficiency in essential nutrients. In extreme cases, patients may require surgical intervention to a put a feeding tube in place. Patients suffering from obesity and eating disorders (ED) may suffer long-term complications such as osteoporosis and irreversible changes in brain morphology and function. Additional treatment options are needed.
Likewise, pathological conditions related to craving including drug addiction, nicotine addiction and alcohol addiction severely affect a significant portion of the population. Studies have shown that once addicted, failure rates for nicotine, heroin and alcohol addiction are the same with 70% relapsing within a year after abstaining. These pathological craving conditions are obviously not readily treated by existing therapies.